Accounting Education Conference

Teresa Thompson fell in love with accounting after her very first class—and fell in love with teaching soon after. While working as an accounting tutor at her community college, she told the center’s director, “I want to tutor this stuff forever!” With a smile, he replied, “That’s called teaching.” In that moment, Teresa’s path became crystal clear.

She went on to earn her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, her CPA license, and gain experience in both public and private accounting before returning full circle—this time, not as a student, but as a professor. Today, Teresa teaches at the very same community college where she first discovered her passion for accounting and helping others.

Teresa loves being in the classroom and is known for her innovative and engaging teaching methods. From a Pokémon-themed syllabus to a 'Squid Games' escape room, she loves integrating pop culture into her assignments and looking for ways to make learning approachable, meaningful, and fun.

Teresa frequently speaks to national audiences and writes about the importance of joy, play, and connection in education. Her published works include “The Importance of a Good Bedside Manner for Doctors Teachers,” “What a Cool Syllabus…But is it Accessible?”, and “The Unexpected Benefits of Play.”

Her contributions have earned her several awards, including Excellence in Teaching, Service to the Community, and Program Excellence honors from her college. In 2025, Teresa received the national Cook Prize, recognizing her consistent excellence and outstanding contributions as an accounting educator.

Beyond the classroom, Teresa serves as Director of West Valley College’s Entrepreneurship Center, where she helps students apply their business and accounting skills to their own ventures -cheering them on each step of their journey. She also serves on the Board of the Teachers of Accounting at Two Year Colleges (TACTYC), championing mentorship, outreach, and educator support across the country.

When she’s not teaching, speaking, or mentoring, Teresa can be found hiking, diving into pedagogy books, or curled up with a good mystery novel—and her one-eyed, two-toned cat, Rex—always dreaming up new ways to bring more joy and impact to her students’ learning experiences.

I serve as a liaison for Student Counseling Services to equip and empower students,

faculty, and staff regarding mental health, wellness, and success through outreach,

training, and programming. I meet directly with students, faculty, and staff in

the College of Business, serve as the first touchpoint for any student mental health

concerns, and provide resources to ensure holistic student success.

Sharee Brewer was appointed as the Executive Director of the Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy in January, 2024. Prior to this appointment, she served the Board as the Associate Director since June 30, 2017 where her primary duty was managing the Board’s investigations. Sharee’s background includes serving for 5 years as a Finance & Accounting Consultant with the University of Tennessee’s Institute for Public Service. In this capacity, she provided technical assistance to Tennessee municipal governing bodies and financial staff related to standards of practice, governing regulations, Tennessee and Federal law as well as serving as an instructor for the state-mandated certification program designed specifically for local government financial personnel. Sharee has also taught classes on financial fraud and other training topics of a technical nature when assigned. Before working for the University of Tennessee, she was employed for more than 22 years as a Financial & Compliance Auditor with the Tennessee State Comptroller’s Office of Local Government Audit where she conducted Yellow Book audits of county governments and their associated component units. Sharee graduated from Mississippi State University in 1987 with a Bachelor of Professional Accountancy degree and completed her MBA with a banking and finance emphasis with the University of Tennessee in 2016. In her personal time, Sharee enjoys cooking and traveling and has a list of European countries on her bucket list she is diligently working her way through. She makes her home in Brandon with a sassy little shih-tzu named Sasha.

Christine Cheng, PhD is an assistant professor at the University of Mississippi’s Patterson School of Accountancy. She has also had the honor of being a visiting scholar with the Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Economic and Risk Analysis Office of Structured Disclosure from late 2020 through summer 2022 and is a current member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board Taxonomy Advisory Group. Christine has focused her research on examining determinants of consequences of machine-readable financial reporting decisions as well as the influences of tax on decision making for both individuals and corporations. Her research appears in top quality outlets, including the Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Accounting Horizons, and more. One of her working papers also recently won the 2023 Public Interest Section Best paper Award for the American Taxation Association Midyear Meeting.

In the classroom, Christine combines her passion for tax with data analytics at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. She joined the Patterson School of Accountancy to help start the Master's of Taxation and Data Analytics program and focuses the educational environment in ensuring that today's students are well prepared to be leaders in the accounting profession. Christine has won several international and school based teaching awards and is the 2023 Graduate teacher winner of the American Accounting Association/J. Michael and Mary Anne Cook/Deloitte Foundation Prize, which is the foremost recognition of an individual who consistently demonstrates the attributes of a superior teacher in the discipline of accounting. She regularly publishes her teaching materials in Issues in Accounting Education and has a YouTube Channel with over 200 educational videos that help students and faculty see how to employ current technologies to answer interesting tax and accounting questions.